Coast to Coasters

The quaint riverside location of the stone Keld Bunkhouse was outdone only by the hospitality of its proprietor serving homemade beef stew, chips, and a killer bacon and egg baguette for breakfast. We have entered the Yorkshire Dales, our second national park, and every bit as pretty as the lake district helped a bit by the dry weather. Awoke to a blue sky with a hint of fall crispness in the air. Rambled along side the River Swale all day passing thru gate after gate in stone walls separating verdant green pastures. This was a relaxing 11 miles with beautiful scenery, easy paths and warm sunshine. Stopped at picnic table outside a pub in Gunnerside village to eat lunch. Feeling relaxed and unhurried in the sunshine, CB ran inside to get a diet coke and returned with an ice cold pint of beer - and that kicked this lunch up a notch! We still had all afternoon to walk but CB explained that the bartender assured her that this brand was a lighter beer, excellent for walking. Arrived in Reeth with 10 minutes to spare before catching the bus for the ride to Richmond where we planned to take a rest day to explore its castle. Awoke in Richmond to blue sky, again, pinching ourselves on how wonderful the change in weather felt. We discovered a restored 300 year old Georgian theatre and decided to get tickets to the performance of two modern short plays. Also toured the tiny theatre and learned the nitty gritty on what the theatre experience was like for audiences and actors circa 1748. Ate lunch of our sausage sandwiches (from breakfast) on the Richmond castle grounds and climbed up its tower for spectacular views of the town and surrounding valley. Built around the 11th century after the Norman Conquest, it features advanced castle architecture thanks to the French stone masons brought over the channel to build it. Awoke (once again!) to sunshine and departed the Buck Hotel to proceed 12 miles down the coast to coast trail to the Lovesome Hill Farm Bunk Barn. Leaving the Yorkshire Dales we now spend a couple of days in mostly farm land where the trail often follows field paths and country lanes. The terrain is flat and we make easy 12 mile days enroute to the North York Moors, our third national park of the coast to coast trail. Our identity in England, at least by locals we pass by, is evidently as Coast to Coasters. Many will say something like "You're Coast to Coasters are you?" And sometimes this conversation leads to recollections of their own C2C trip in earlier years. There are many long distance trails in England but this one is definitely the grand daddy in terms of stature and national prominence. The Lovesome Farm Bunkhouse is remote, no food or pubs nearby, so we decided to dine in on pack scraps, and enjoyed a scotch with trail mix, sardines and warmed cheddar on rye krisp, followed by cookies and a Snickers bar. It was delicious, especially the scotch. Leaving the bunkhouse at Lovesome Farm, our rain gear is back. The threatening sky has returned. Today's destination is the Youth Hostel outside the quaint village of Osmotherly. We have about 11 mostly flat miles to walk and the weather keeps our pace brisk. The hostel doesn't open until 5pm and having arrived early afternoon, we enjoyed coffee and cheesecake in the Queen Catherine Hotel & Free House with lots of walkers singing songs inside, warm and safe from the light rainshowers outside.